Thinking about the uncanny is uncanny in of itself. Almost anything could be made to seem uncanny. A director, producer, or whatever could take almost any science fiction story and put it to the stage which would seem uncanny to our society today. Take for example Star Trek, and the character of Data (a humanoid artificial life-form) would be very uncanny. Just his appearance with his very pale skin, yellow eyes and the fact that he doesn't use contractions in his speech would be extremely uncanny and yet he is considered alive.
Way back in the 1970s, I saw a production of the The Wiz on Broadway. Just the way the production was performed was uncanny. Several different parts such as, the way the "Yellow Brick Road" (which was four guys in bright yellow sparkly outfits and big yellow Afros) danced with the other characters dancing in-between them was an unique approach to how the yellow brick road was. It was if the yellow brick road became "alive" or exhibited "liveness." Even the characters of the Tin Man, the Scarecrow, and the Lion are in of themselves creating the liveness and uncanny feelings.
I think when we do the production of Carrie The Musical, there will be plenty of situations in which there could be opportunities to create an uncanny feeling. It will seem very strange indeed.
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Monday, November 10, 2014
# 10 Empathy
As we get into "weirder" kinds of theatre, it appears to me that it is becoming more than entertainment. I have always thought of theatre as entertainment, but with these new "forms" of theatre, namely Invisible, Image, and Forum theatre, they seem to cry out to become platforms in which to voice an opinion, injustice, or a belief. Whether or not these forms of theatre would actually help facilitate a change of any kind is hard to figure out. Yes, they can bring an awareness of whatever they are trying to say, but making a change would depend on the audience that observes the performance. As far as question 2 goes, I don't think theatre by itself is the only answer. I think that it can be part of the answer. I do think that doing theatrical performances about certain subject matter, whether it is controversial or not, and performing in places where people, who would not ordinarily go to a theater, is a excellent way of exposing them to whatever message that is being conveyed.
As far a Invisible theatre goes, our group did an experiment with this kind of theatre in our class. It was a lot of fun seeing the reactions of the "spect-actors" (our classmates) especially when we ended it and they realized that it was our project presentation. I can see how this would be fun to try in public if for nothing else to see people's reactions and if they really care or not. Now if we rose an awareness of our "subject" (stalking on campus) or not didn't seem as important to me as how our classmates would react and whether or not we could keep up the appearance of our normal reality. It makes me wonder if the people who do this kind of theatre feel the same way (meaning they enjoy the reactions) or if they are truly concerned about what their subject matter is. It is something to think about!
As far a Invisible theatre goes, our group did an experiment with this kind of theatre in our class. It was a lot of fun seeing the reactions of the "spect-actors" (our classmates) especially when we ended it and they realized that it was our project presentation. I can see how this would be fun to try in public if for nothing else to see people's reactions and if they really care or not. Now if we rose an awareness of our "subject" (stalking on campus) or not didn't seem as important to me as how our classmates would react and whether or not we could keep up the appearance of our normal reality. It makes me wonder if the people who do this kind of theatre feel the same way (meaning they enjoy the reactions) or if they are truly concerned about what their subject matter is. It is something to think about!
Sunday, November 2, 2014
# 9 Heartbeat! Activism!
This blog hits home for me as I have been involved in several different kinds of "protests" over the years. Abortion is the one subject that is most important to me. This is because it is very personal to me. I was adopted and my "birth mother" was an unwed 24 year woman. She stayed in an unwed mother's home and then gave me up for adoption. If abortion had been legal back in (should I say the year?) 1957, then I would not be writing this blog right now. I would have been aborted and dead. THAT is a scary thought to me. I will not even vote for any person running for a political office if they are "pro-choice" no matter what they're other policies are. I think that abortion has become another new of way of birth control. They say that women need to have that "choice," but no one is thinking about the unborn women's choice to live. Well enough of the soap box.
Many years ago, during the early and mid 80s, we had anti-abortion rallies in Baton Rouge. They were called "Heartbeat" rallies. Many different churches, of all denominations, would work together to host these rallies. There were literally thousands of us marching. We would march from the state capital down Spanish Town Road, across the bridge over I-110 and finish in front of the Governor's Mansion. After which, we would have various speakers (including pro-life politicians), music, and testimonies. We would use the grassy area between the Governor's Mansion and it would be filled with tiny white crosses to represent the babies who were aborted in a month's time (there would not be enough room for all babies killed in total or even in a year). Then we would have a baby sized coffin on the "stage" and have a funeral for all the babies who have been killed which would end our rally. I'm not sure exactly when we stopped the rallies, but I feel that they need to start up again. It seems as though a whole generation has forgotten about this issue.
So, I would propose to organize another "Heartbeat" rally similar to the ones we had before for the propose of, if nothing else, to continue to raise an awareness of this very important issue. Like before, we had the media involved which included news coverage in the paper, and on TV. However, this time we could include internet coverage which is something we didn't have access to before. We could also have live tweets or posts about the rally and during the rally so that other cities around the world could see our message. That is something that we weren't able to do back in the 80s. As far as ending the protest, it would end with the funeral of the aborted babies like before. I would however continue the rallies, at least on a yearly basis and before an election time in order to raise awareness of the which politicians are pro-life or not and make people aware of who they are voting for. Getting pro-life politicians in office is one way of hopefully changing the law.
Below are some pictures from a "Heartbeat Rally." (I think this was around 1985 or 1986.) Some of the pictures show how long the line of the march was. It stretched for at least a mile or so and sometimes about 3 miles. And yes, that is me pulling my kids in a wagon and yes, I was very skinny then!
Many years ago, during the early and mid 80s, we had anti-abortion rallies in Baton Rouge. They were called "Heartbeat" rallies. Many different churches, of all denominations, would work together to host these rallies. There were literally thousands of us marching. We would march from the state capital down Spanish Town Road, across the bridge over I-110 and finish in front of the Governor's Mansion. After which, we would have various speakers (including pro-life politicians), music, and testimonies. We would use the grassy area between the Governor's Mansion and it would be filled with tiny white crosses to represent the babies who were aborted in a month's time (there would not be enough room for all babies killed in total or even in a year). Then we would have a baby sized coffin on the "stage" and have a funeral for all the babies who have been killed which would end our rally. I'm not sure exactly when we stopped the rallies, but I feel that they need to start up again. It seems as though a whole generation has forgotten about this issue.
So, I would propose to organize another "Heartbeat" rally similar to the ones we had before for the propose of, if nothing else, to continue to raise an awareness of this very important issue. Like before, we had the media involved which included news coverage in the paper, and on TV. However, this time we could include internet coverage which is something we didn't have access to before. We could also have live tweets or posts about the rally and during the rally so that other cities around the world could see our message. That is something that we weren't able to do back in the 80s. As far as ending the protest, it would end with the funeral of the aborted babies like before. I would however continue the rallies, at least on a yearly basis and before an election time in order to raise awareness of the which politicians are pro-life or not and make people aware of who they are voting for. Getting pro-life politicians in office is one way of hopefully changing the law.
Below are some pictures from a "Heartbeat Rally." (I think this was around 1985 or 1986.) Some of the pictures show how long the line of the march was. It stretched for at least a mile or so and sometimes about 3 miles. And yes, that is me pulling my kids in a wagon and yes, I was very skinny then!
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